Steve Sidwell finally left Chelsea for Aston Villa last Wednesday in a deal rumoured to be around 5 million pounds. Considering Chelsea signed him from Reading last year on a Bosman, the deal makes business sense especially as we are already well covered in the midfield department. However there were one or two stories in the media a few weeks back that Sidwell was holding out for a compensation from Chelsea. Considering he signed a four year contract last year and is taking a wagecut in moving to Villa, it won’t surprise me if we have made a payoff.
Sidwell was signed by Jose Mourinho last year to add strength in depth to the squad as the midfield was going to be severely depleted in January due to African Cup of Nations. It looked a good decision in foresight as Ballack and Lampard both missed a sizeable part of the season but with Sidwell in the ranks we had someone experienced to call upon if needed. Sidwell knew that it was going to be the biggest challenge in his footballing career trying to find a place for himself in the Chelsea team but in Mourinho he had a manager who made him believe that he would judge him on merit and he was certainly not there to make up the numbers. Unfortunately, the manager who signed him didn’t stayed long enough, Mourinho left the club in September. Under him he did got chances to prove himself but he didn’t really set the stage alight with his performances. I distinctly remember that Reading game when we were quiet poor in the first half when he was orchestrating things from the middle. Mourinho took him off at the interval replacing him with Mikel and within no time our game improved and we went onto win the match.
Avram Grant replaced Mourinho as the Chelsea manager and it was back to square one for all the players especially the ones signed during the summers. Sidwell had to prove himself all over again. Grant was under pressure to deliver results right from the start and with the majority of the fanbase against his appointment, it was hard for him to make unpopular decisions. He preferred to stick with the experienced players and Sidwell was rooted to the bench, not even the bench at times. He played an important part for us in January when we were very thin on numbers. It would be hard to pick out standout performances of Sidwell in Chelsea colours but I distinctly remember two games, the one away at Wigan in the FA Cup and the League Cup semifinal against Everton at Goodison Park where I thought he performed really well. In his time at Chelsea he only scored one goal and that came against the Hull side who have been promoted to Premier League this year.
Sidwell during his time here didn’t gave any glimpses of his play which could make us believe that he was a genuine first team material but one thing you can’t deny about the lad is that he does work hard for the team. People don’t usually notice that and I know at times they have been too critical of him. Some even wrote him off before he played a game which is sad. At a club like Chelsea these days the pressure of winning is probably too much and players don’t get any honeymoon periods. They are expected to fire on all cylinders right from the word go and not everyone can live upto that expectation. Sidwell couldn’t.
I am not too disappointed about his departure to be honest because if not for the African Cup of Nations last year we were well covered in midfield which is still the case. Moreover it would be better if an academy players takes up his position as when you are 6th in the pecking order, games are not going to come your way every now and then. Sidwell is undoubtedly a good player and at a club where the level of expectation is not so high he would settle in well. I am quiet chuffed that he has chosen Villa because in Martin O’Neill he has a manager who has the ability to get the best out of his players. With Gareth Barry expected to leave for Liverpool, Sidwell would be the top contender to take his place in midfield.
It would be too harsh on the lad to label him a mercenary because if we use that criteria then every other football player on this planet is one. He was brave and ambitious enough to take the chance that came his way when Chelsea came knocking on the door even though he knew that getting into the first team was by no means a piece of cake. He got the chance to play at one of the top clubs in the world alongside the best players in the business which I believe any footballer worth his salt would have jumped at. Villa presents a brilliant opportunity to him to get back to playing football week in and week out and prove his detractors wrong. Hope he does well there!
